Filing cabinet

A filing cabinet is a piece of office equipment that is useful for temporary and permanent storage. It is usually used for the storage of paper in a file folder. The two most common forms of file cabinets are lateral files and vertical files.

Lateral file

A lateral file is used to store folders in a sideways fashion. They are standard in government and legal offices. They also permit variety in office design. These are called side filers in Britain.

Vertical file

The vertical filing cabinet more or less as in use today was invented by Edwin G. Seibels in 1898. He was working in his father's insurance office and realised that the then current system of folding papers into envelopes and storing them in pigeon holes could be improved if the folding was dispensed with. The documents could then be stored in large envelopes vertically, in drawers.

In the US, these come in two sizes: for letter-size paper and legal-size paper. Foreign firms offer filing cabinets that permit A4 paper to be used in addition to letter-size. Also, there are double file cabinets whose drawers each can accommodate two racks for folders side by side.

File cabinet manufacturers

• The HON Company, an operating company of HNI Corporation.
• Bisley Office Furniture, a UK manufacturer.